Welcome to Differentiated Instruction 3801K, Fall 2011.

We are going to use this space to upload files, videos, links and other resources that will be useful to all of us.
This is a link to an explanation of Multiple Intelligences. Please watch the video and enjoy!


For Wednesday Sep 7th, please bring glue and scissors to class; we'll be doing some hands-on activities.

How can you guide development of a sense of classroom community characterized by respect?
By believing in every student's ability to learn and achieve. As the text suggests, a teacher should both accept and enact the principle of human dignity by not just seeing the children as just a list of names. We are instead shaping and stewarding young lives.

How do you contribute to your students' awareness of their core similarities and their individuality?
"Our similarities make us human. Our differences make us individuals"(p.28). Students should be taught how to embrace each other's differences and learn from them instead of being critical and celebrate and appreciate whatever makes us unique or individuals.

How do you create group work that draws on the particular strengths of the group members?
By observing and knowing each student in under my tutorledge. This knowledge will allow me to place students in appropriate positions so each child will be able to draw from the other. A child that has difficulty learning a particular topic would benefit from being a part of a group that has mastered that area by having his peers mentor him.

How do your students encourage and support each other's growth?
We need to teach students that they not only accept, but expect and value diversity of other student. As students are encouraged to learn these value it will help in their maturity and also in the emotional growth of the other students.

How do you understand the mind-set of each of your students in order to ensure that they understand their capacity to impact their own success?
According to the text, I would encourage each child to develop a "growth mind-set" which would allow them to believe that if a skill or task is difficult, they can nonetheless achieve mastery because their continuing effort will win the day" Using motivation to help children to succeed pays off.